An Unlikely Perspective
by ichelleb
Summary: Post D.H. Teddy Lupin has questions about his father and asks an unlikely source. Nongraphic established PWOW relationship.


**Disclaimer**: I in no way, shape, or form own any of the characters contained in my story. They are the property of J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter universe. Not all of the ideas contained in this story are original; I just thought I'd try my hand at writing what I considered fantastic concepts. I do not make any money from my writings. I write for the enjoyment it gives me, and the possible enjoyment reading gives others. With that being said, taking something from another writer without crediting them is plagiarism, and it's against the law. So please don't do it.

**An Unlikely Perspective**

Percy flipped through his notes and briefly wondered if it was too early to start teaching Hinkypunks to the third year students when a knock at the classroom door caused him to pause.

"Professor Weasley?"

Percy looked up from his notes and smiled. "Yes, Mister Lupin?" Teddy Lupin was a favorite of Percy's. As a student, Teddy was polite, inquisitive, and eager to learn. Everything a teacher wanted in a student. As a semi-relative, Teddy was generous and warm hearted, a truly blessed child.

Teddy smiled at the formality. "I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me."

Percy stood and walked to the other side of his desk. Leaning against the front, he pointed to a chair, indicating that Teddy should sit. "Of course. Though I think I may be able to learn more about fifth year Defense Against the Dark Arts from you than you will from me. I don't think I've seen a student so overly prepared for class since Hermione or myself."

Teddy sat in front of Percy. "Well, I could use some extra help with recognizing Dark Creatures. I feel a bit unprepared for the D.A.D.A. O.W.L., but that can wait, it's only November."

"It's never too early to start preparing for your O.W.L.s. I'd be glad to help you organize; I could recommend some extra library books that would be helpful."

"That'd be great." Teddy bit his bottom lip. "But actually, today I was hoping you would answer some questions about my father."

Percy let out a sigh. He knew Harry kept Remus Lupin's memory alive for his son, but he never thought Teddy would seek him out for answers. "I may be the wrong person to be asking questions about your father. I think you'd be better off going to Harry, or even my parents, Mister Lupin."

"But he taught you, right Professor?" Teddy looked at Percy expectantly. His eyes were wide and filled with hope.

Percy stumbled over his words. He didn't want to encourage Teddy, yet he felt unsure as to how far Teddy would go to find the information he wanted. "It was only one year. Not enough time to gain the knowledge you seek."

Teddy was persistent. "But I saw the yearbook. You were Head Boy that year. And Mister Wood said that you were the top of your class. You don't get that way without speaking to Professors outside of the classroom. I should know, Professor."

Percy shook his head. "Mister Wood needs to keep his head on the Quidditch pitch and out of the classroom."

"Please, Professor."

Percy examined the young man sitting in front of him. He had grown in the last year. Oliver Wood had been working with him on his Quidditch moves, which shaped and defined his arm and leg muscles. Add that to his recent growth spurt, and Teddy's physique was swiftly transforming him from boy to man. His hair was long today, with a few wisps floating in front of his eyes. And if rumors among teenage girls were correct, Teddy Lupin was the desire of many.

Yet Percy looked through the dark hair hiding Teddy's face, and saw a trace of Remus in his eyes. Their shape and color matched exactly. Though Teddy was forbidden from using his gift as a Metamorphmagus to drastically alter his physical appearance while in school, he was allowed small changes. Percy thought back and realized that Teddy looked more and more like Remus since the beginning of the new school year.

Percy took a deep breath. "Do you know the portrait on the sixth floor, a bit south of the Gryffindor tower, with a young lady in a gold gown?"

Teddy nodded.

"The password is 'Flubber Worms.' I'll see you after dinner."

"Thank you, Professor," said Teddy as he stood up. He gave a smile before running to join his fellow students in the Great Hall for lunch.

Percy crossed his arms. "Oh, what have I gotten myself into?" he asked to the empty classroom.

Percy spent the rest of his day distracted. He forgot the difference between mountain and river trolls when asked by a second year Ravenclaw; he couldn't tell the difference between the Creevey twins, and he assigned the seventh year students a measly half foot parchment of homework instead of his standard three and a half feet.

When he finally returned to his chambers at the end of the day, Percy was upset.

Oliver emerged from the kitchen when he heard Percy enter the portrait hole. "Hi, Love. Dinner's almost ready. How were your classes?" He kissed Percy's cheek and walked back into the kitchen, expecting Percy to follow.

"I can't believe you talked to him."

Oliver turned from the pot on the stove. "I'll assume you're talking about Ted Lupin."

"What did you say to him? What am I supposed to say to him?" Percy began to pace in their kitchen.

"Here, taste this." Oliver held out a spoon with liquid from the boiling pot to Percy.

"Mmm. My mother's recipe?"

Oliver nodded. "She sent it in her letter last week."

"That doesn't change the point, Ol."

Oliver began to ladle the soup into bowls. "Sit. It's ready. You probably worried yourself into a frenzy and haven't eaten all day."

"I'd like to think that I am more mature than a sulking teenager," Percy said as he sat.

Oliver raised his eyebrows as he placed a bowl in front of Percy.

Percy pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "I may have overlooked lunch this afternoon. And possibly afternoon tea as well. But I am eating now."

The two ate in silence. Oliver gently entwined their legs under the table. Oliver was glad that moments like this were never awkward for them. After seven years of sharing a dorm, and their lives, the two became comfortable with mutual silence. Yet Oliver knew tonight's quiet was different. There was a strain that Percy was waiting to let out.

Percy got up from the table and placed his empty bowl in the sink. "When did he talk to you?" he asked, his back to Oliver.

Oliver put down his spoon. "Two days ago. He said he'd been in the library looking through the yearbooks and realized that his father was our last D.A.D.A. professor."

Percy turned and walked into the living room.

"Perce, what was I supposed to do? The boy has questions, and if he feels comfortable asking us, then we should be the ones to answer him," Oliver said as he followed Percy.

"Yes, but what do we know about Remus Lupin? We know how he died. We don't know how he and Tonks met each other. Hell, I only remember bits and pieces about Tonks from our time together at Hogwarts. And even those parts are fading. She was in Charlie's year, and in a different house. I don't know what kind of man Remus was. I don't know his favorite color, the form his patronus took, or what grades he received in his N.E.W.T.s. All I know is that I've based my teaching method on his one year as a professor here. How is that going to help me with this boy—no, young man—who wants answers about his father?"

Oliver embraced Percy from behind. "Did you ever think that Teddy might be looking for the exact answers you have?"

"I have nothing," Percy whispered.

Oliver began to trace an invisible pattern on Percy's stomach. "You have more than you think."

The two men looked up as the portrait opened. Oliver kissed Percy below his left ear. "I'll be in the kitchen cleaning up if you need me." He withdrew himself from Percy and waved to Teddy. "Hi, Ted. I have those Quidditch diagrams if you want to see them after."

"Thanks, Oliver." Teddy stood in the middle of the living room biting his bottom lip as Oliver retreated to the kitchen. "Hi, Percy. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything. You said to come after dinner, and I couldn't eat. Victoire told me to stop dawdling and go find you already."

"No, Ted, you aren't interrupting. Oliver and I were just finishing dinner. Why don't you sit down?" Percy watched as Teddy lowered his lanky form into the plush sofa. He stood for a moment, unsure of what to say and how to act. "Was there anything in particular you're looking for? Or should I start with what I remember and go from there?"

Teddy picked at a hole above the knee of his regulation black school pants. "I'm not sure what I want to know."

Percy nodded his head and turned toward the bookcase on the opposite side of the room, his natural teaching ability taking over his actions. "When I was in my last year here, I was Head Boy, preparing for N.E.W.T.s in seven subjects, trying to represent a calm, collected, young man ready for challenge and responsibility during the Sirius Black escape, juggling two complex relationships, and trying to prove that I would be an invaluable asset to the Ministry of Magic after I graduated. Added to that was my large family and stuffy personality." He found his yearbook from his seventh year at Hogwarts and opened to the page with his Head Boy photo. Percy passed the book to Teddy as he sat next to him.

"I didn't realize the Head Boy has to handle that much responsibility." Teddy stared at Percy's photo. "You don't look that much different."

"It's the red hair and pale skin. It has a youthful quality to it. And being Head Boy is not nearly as complicated as I made it. You would do well as Head Boy."

Teddy blushed. "I've thought about it ever since I got my Prefect badge this summer. I haven't told anyone though. I'm worried that I'll muck it up somehow."

Percy filed away the thought that Teddy confided something to him that he felt scared to mention to anyone else. "You've time, yet. The key is not to dwell on what qualities would make you Head Boy. That was what I did. When Bill received his letter with the shiny Head Boy badge the summer before my second year, I thought that was the coolest thing ever. And I sought to become that person. Along the way, I went from worshiping Bill to worshiping academics and rules. I thought they would help me to achieve Head Boy status."

"But they did, right?"

"Yes and no. Head Boy is more than grades, knowledge, and following the rules. You need to have leadership qualities, be able to handle large amounts of responsibility, and demonstrate bravery and strength in the face of adversity." Percy turned back a few pages and found the picture of Professor Remus Lupin. "To be a teacher, on the other hand, takes those qualities and many more."

"Was my dad a good teacher?"

Percy leaned back against the sofa. "Professor Lupin was my seventh Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. And the two before him were utter rubbish. After Professor Quirrell, I almost didn't try for my D.A.D.A. N.E.W.T., but I thought if any of these subjects would be useful in the long run, it would be Defense." Percy saw Oliver leaning against the door jam between the kitchen and living room and beckoned him over.

"I thought your father was brilliant," said Oliver as he sat on the armrest next to Percy. "He truly cared about what he was teaching. He wanted his students to be aware of the dangers outside of Hogwarts' walls, yet not scare them into thinking that they couldn't solve any obstacle they came across."

Percy's hand reached over and rested atop Oliver's knee. "He was amazing in the classroom. Here," Percy flipped forward a few pages in the yearbook and stopped at a picture of him, Oliver, and Remus covered in bundimun after an experiment went wrong. "We were trying to bottle the secretions for the school potions' store, but wound up covered in it. But instead of panicking, your father calmly taught us how to quickly remove the liquid from our robes without damaging ourselves or the secretions."

"He looks happy. I've been wondering about that time in his life. No one knows much about him then." Teddy lifted the book and pulled the picture close to his face. Remus stood in the middle with green puss covering his face and robes as he quickly taught Percy and Oliver the incantation and wand movement to safely remove the secretions.

"I suppose there are few people still alive who knew your father then. The Second Order of the Phoenix hadn't formed yet, and his best friend had just escaped from Azkaban. It must have been a rough time for him." Oliver thought about the time between Hogwarts and the War, when he and Percy were separated. It tore at him that he didn't force Percy to stay in contact, to be more sociable, or even send a Christmas card.

Percy's hand gently squeezed Oliver's knee, reliving the same memories. "That year, the classroom was his home. His classroom is very similar to mine. In fact, most of my lessons have a base in your father's methods."

Teddy turned a few pages in the yearbook and stopped at the pages devoted to Quidditch. "Did he play, do you know?"

"Sorry, mate. I don't know if he could even ride a broom," said Oliver.

Teddy nodded and continued his perusal of the book. "What about outside of the classroom? Did you have any contact with him then?"

"My time with your father was based in academics. We had a normal student teacher relationship. I frequently asked him questions, but they were all related to D.A.D.A. I was in N.E.W.T. preparation mode, and nothing was going to hinder that." Percy frowned. "I suppose that I was single minded in my pursuit of good grades. I was determined that I would receive seven O's. If it wouldn't help me achieve that, I didn't pay much attention to it."

Teddy looked up inquisitively from the yearbook. "But you said you had two relationships during that year?"

Oliver laughed. "He said 'relationships', Ted, but they're not what you're thinking of."

"I guess I should clarify. While my relationship with Penny held a bit of romantic interest, we were both more concerned with our studies and would spend our time together revising for our examinations."

"But you had two relationships," said Teddy.

Percy nodded his head. His relationship with Oliver was always complicated. While nothing physical took place between them until after the war, an emotional connection was always present.

Oliver calmly ran his fingers through the hair at the base of Percy's neck. "Flip to the students, Ted." Oliver waited until the yearbook opened to the picture of the seventh year Gryffindor boys. "There, that's me, Gareth, Colin, and Percy. See how Percy and I are sneaking glances at each other? That was our 'relationship'. We were both determined to be the best at what we did, and we didn't care what got in our way. Including our feelings for each other."

"But we found each other because of it," said Percy.

"Aye, we did. You tried to keep my feet on the ground and I wanted more than anything to get your head in the clouds." Oliver smiled at the memories. "But I did have one non-academic conversation with Professor Lupin outside of the classroom."

Teddy looked at Oliver. This was what he was hoping for. It was great that his father was a typical teacher, but Teddy wanted more.

"I was pining for you, Perce, and somehow he knew it. He sought me out on the Quidditch pitch after practice one night. Said he recognized the symptoms as one of his best mates in school longed for a girl no one thought he could have. Told me to wait it out, and if it was meant to be, then it would be."

"He was a romantic," said Teddy.

"Yeah, I guess he was," said Oliver.

"So, did we answer your questions, Teddy?" asked Percy.

"I guess."

"The man you want to know is no longer in this building, Ted," said Oliver. "While we're flattered you came to us for information, we're not the people you should be seeking out."

Teddy smiled. "But you are, Oliver. I learned a lot tonight. And if you'll excuse me, I think I'll head back to the Tower to process it all."

Percy watched as Teddy walked out of the portrait hole. "I just wish I new what he learned from us."

Oliver turned Percy's head so the two were facing each other. "He learned that his father had at least two students that admired his teaching. One on an academic level, and another on a personal level. No one else could have taught him that except us."

Percy leaned up and pressed his lips against Oliver's. "Thank you."

Oliver stroked Percy's cheek. "Always."


End file.
